Electric vehicles driving growth Lear Corporation

The Rampf Group is a typical German family-run SME. Since the start of 2011, when company founder Rudolf Rampf (right) retired from active operational management, his sons Michael (centre) and Matthias have been leading the company.

adhesives. Rampf Giessharze offers solutions for all key industries around the globe.

Rampf Ecosystems has been operating the world’s first industrially usable plant for manufacturing polyols from PU flexible foam waste since 2012. The acidolysis process developed by Rampf enables the recovery of polyols industrially from flexible slabstock foams and flexible moulded foams. The company also offers the construction of recycling plants on site at customer premises. In addition to cutting transport and disposal costs, this makes the production of polyurethane-based products more environmentally friendly.

Epucret Mineralgusstechnik offers integral service concepts for high-precision machine components. Its core activity is the production of machine beds made of mineral casting. Its service portfolio also includes a state-of-theart grinding centre for machine components and beds made of various materials such as mineral casting, hard stone, ceramic, steel and cast iron. The company has been part of the Rampf Group since 1996.

Innovation is key

Michael Rampf emphasises that the drive for innovation is inherent in all group companies. “We are continuously developing new products, technologies and processes. Our business is a combination of engineering and chemistry. The constant flow of new ideas that are born through close cooperation with our customers and partners has kept us a highly innovative company – hence the company’s slogan ‘discover the future’.”

Rudolf Rampf Foundation and the future

For the Rampf Group, economic success goes hand in hand with corporate citizenship and a commitment to cultural and regional affairs, Michael Rampf points out. The Rudolf Rampf Foundation, set up in 2001 in Grafenberg, subscribes to the principle that children are our future. It focuses exclusively on the local community of company founder Rudolf Rampf. The foundation supports music and sports clubs for youngsters, and Grafenberg’s youth work in general. So far, €40,000 has been channelled into the youth work of local clubs and the community, and into projects that benefit young people. Each year, all Rampf Group companies also make donations to various establishments in and outside the region, such as kindergartens, hospitals and foundations.

The future of the company is defined by long-term considerations. Michael Rampf concludes: “Our philosophy is based on fairness, trust, encouragement, recognition and sustainability. We plan far ahead: we have set out a long-term strategy for the years until 2030, and a mid-term strategy for the years up to 2020. We expect growth from organic expansion and do not exclude acquisitions.” n

Environmental protection has been a top priority at RAMPF from day one. With the invention of the first polyurethane model making board, ornamental wood types such as mahogany were replaced with plastic in order to avoid further depletion of the world’s forests. © Sophia Winters – Fotolia.com Materials and machines from a single source – that is one of the outstanding features of the international Rampf Group. In this particular case, Rampf Giessharze is providing the material – electro casting resin – and Rampf Dosiertechnik the high-precision dispensing machine.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES DRIVING GROWTH

Fortune 500 company Lear Corporation is a leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical power management systems. Industry Europe looks at the latest from the company.

With 242 manufacturing facilities in 33 countries, of which 60 are located in Europe and Africa, Lear is a leading global manufacturer and distributor of automotive seating and electrical power management systems. The Lear Corporation is a Fortune 500 company with world-class products designed, engineered and manufactured by a diverse team of employees. A leading supplier of automotive seating and electrical power management systems, it serves its clients with global capabilities.

Almost every industry throughout the world was hit by the global financial downturn, and automotive was no exception to this. As a leading global supplier that was traditionally associated with complete systems, Lear has worked especially hard to re-engage with its clients and in recent years has been positioning itself to utilise the growth of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Geographical growth

In recent years, Lear has been increasing its production in the areas of hybrid and electric vehicles, and has started to make investments in additional state-of-the-art facilities in North Africa in order to further increase its capabilities. This year (2013) it opened a new automotive wiring plant in Morocco’s Amer Saflia area to complement its existing three plants in the country. These include two in Tangier for electrical wiring systems and automotive seating and one in Rabat, supplying industry-leading electronics such as battery chargers and gateway modules to European automakers including BMW, Renault and Volkswagen.

North Africa is noted as a location for strategic development as it offers both business potential and economic benefits. Lear has invested in technology for the continued